A Better Past: A Family Saga

By Lynn Edward Dawson

Lynn Edward Dawson's book is a true saga of the dauntless men and women of the Dugger Family. Through hard work and perseverance they prevailed over the hardship and challenges of their raw new land. Every person and event in this broad book is drawn from actual history and woven into the powerful story that was America's westward expansion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Oct 17, 2001
• ISBN: 9781469717890

Lynn Edward Dawson

Lynn Edward Dawson was born in Arkansas. He’s a graduate of the University of Florida. Becoming a grandparent led to a fascination with genealogy. That fascination coupled with his background in history has led him to write several genealogical articles and two books about family history.

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All Rights Reserved © 2001 by Lynn Edward Dawson

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ISBN: 0-595-20213-6

ISBN: 9978-1-4697-1789-0 (ebook)

Contents

EPIGRAPH

FOREWORD

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CHRONOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

BOOK ONE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

BOOK TWO

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

BOOK THREE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

BOOK FOUR

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

BOOK FIVE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

BOOK SIX

JOHN FLETCHER AND ELIZA.

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

BOOK SEVEN

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

BOOK EIGHT

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

EPILOGUE

NOTES

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

This book is dedicated to my grandmother, Clara Beatrice Dugger McCoy,

her daughter Mildred McCoy Dawson; her great grandchildren, Lynn Dawson II, Mary Dawson Bailey, Donna Dawson and Earl Dawson; her great-great grandchildren, Allison and Kimberly Bailey, Rachel, Laura, Lynn III, Earl II and Alec Dawson, and to my wife, Mary Lou Dawson.

EPIGRAPH

And who can write a biography or trace the genealogy of our honored dead without feelings of profound respect? For in the tracing of their descent, or in the recording of their acts, we see the scenes of daily life reenacted….

And shall we love them less because they are dead? Shall we say that because they have gone from us that there is no love where they dwell?.

Excerpt from the Farnsworth Memorial Preface

Nothing is so soothing to our self-esteem as to find our bad traits in our forebears. It seems to absolve us.

Van Wyck Brooks (1886-1963)

FOREWORD

An unexpected consequence of becoming a grandfather was the feeling of being genealogically connected. Looking at those beautiful little faces started me wondering if my grandparents felt the same reverence and awe when they looked at me and in a broader sense, where it had all began.

When my first grandchild was born, I knew very little about my grandparents, especially my maternal grandmother. All I knew was her name, Clara Dugger, and that she had died long before I was born. I asked my mother and she knew very little, since she was only seven years old when Clara died. She said she knew Clara’s brothers and sisters names and that they were from Independence County, Arkansas and that was about all.

It was obvious to me that if I were ever to know anything of substance about Clara, I would have find it myself. I naively thought I could write for birth and death records and find the information I wanted. I soon learned that family research is very complicated and requires many skills and a deep understanding of history. Along the way I learned that things are often quite different than they first appear and I found that the process of learning about my family’s history changed my perception of who I am and I slowly came to realize that the search for my family was a search for myself.

One unexpected bonus of the journey of discovery was getting to know my mother and her sisters much better and finding many new cousins. The hunt has been very satisfying and I have a much greater appreciation of my family, and am profoundly humbled by their struggles.

My research was mainly conducted by reviewing official documents like birth, death, court and census records. These records are sometimes dull reading, but they let me know the names of my ancestors, where they lived and a few other facts. However, the records often raised as many questions as they answered. I found myself speculating about why my ancestors did the things they did. For example, I can find in the records that my great grandfather moved from Arkansas to Texas, but I cannot find the reason he moved. Some of the people I found were so intriguing I started to imagine reasons and motives that explained the facts I was finding. Over time, a story began to take shape in my mind. My ancestors were living breathing human beings that loved, fought, married, struggled and lived their lives with passion. I have called this story a Saga, because my dictionary says a saga is: a long narrative, heroic tale, epic, legend, yarn and romance.

In this story I have taken official documents like census, land, court and marriage records and allowed my imagination to fill in the gaps. I have no way of knowing what my ancestors said to one another, or what they thought, so I have created their words and thoughts.

The Dugger family left a fairly good paper trail so I know where various members were and when they were there. I can determine with fair accuracy who and when they married, when they had children and when they bought and sold land. In addition, I have a few newspaper accounts and a few family stories. Those facts are the bases of this story. I have added footnotes to aid in distinguishing fact from fiction. The people of this story are real. They were in the places and participated in the events portrayed in this book. However, this story is fiction. Fiction based upon deductions about what could have happened given the historical setting and the known facts and events from the records, but fiction nonetheless. I think my speculations are reasonable, but remember that this story is made up!

This is a good time to say a few words about our names and in particular the way they are spelled. Until the last hundred years or so, few people could read and write. In most villages in Europe until well into the 18th century, the only person who was literate was the village priest. When a child was born, if his birth was recorded at all, it was recorded in church records. The parents would tell the priest the name they had chosen for their child and the priest would write it down the way it sounded to him. Since the parents could not read, they accepted whatever he wrote down. Names such as Dawson were recorded as Dossin, Dawsin, Dowson and many other variations.

So it was with the Duggers, the subjects of this story. Dugger appears to be an American creation and was probably not spelled that way in Europe. I have been unable to find any records of the Duggers, in my (admittedly not very thorough) search of European records. Dugger seems to have been a variant spelling of some European name. I suspect it was an English name and probably the antecedent was Dugard (or Duggard), for that name is found in English and early American records, but it could have been something else altogether.

In the 17th and 18th century people spelled phonetically, because the way something was pronounced was more important to them than the way it was written. They were primarily an oral society and most important documents were written to be read aloud. Most of us are familiar with one product of this oral orientation: the Town Crier who went about making public announcements. Even educated clerks did not take spelling seriously. They wrote things like: hole for whole, (for example my hole and sole executor) or John Jackson, taylor for John Jackson, tailor.

Another problem with the records related to spelling is that many clerks of the past wrote surnames two, three, and occasionally four different ways in a single legal instrument. Even with the correct spelling of a man’s name before them, some clerks seemed to be playing around and tried to see how many different ways they could write the person’s name. We can only conclude that they were bored and perhaps they were adding what they considered zest to an otherwise dull occupation.

Finally, our ancestors, even when they were literate and knew the way their father had spelled his name, tried various ways of spelling and over a lifetime may have tried two or three different spellings. I have seen the Dugger name written: Duggar, Duggur, Dugar, and Duger, in the deeds, wills and court orders. In this story I have adhered to the way most of my direct ancestors spelled their name: Dugger.

Let me make one last observation, since I am on the subject of names: My name is Dawson. I was born with that name and have carried it all my life. Before I started my family research, I somehow thought I was more Dawson than anything else. This of course is not true, for half of my genetic heritage was from my mother, who was named McCoy, so I am just as much McCoy as I am Dawson.

On further reflection, I realized that I was not half Dawson and half McCoy, for both my father and mother were also halves, which makes me one quarter Dawson. But, this sort of reasoning can go on and on. I slowly came to an understanding that my name may be Dawson, but I am the product of many families. As an example of what I mean, let’s look at my grandparents two generations’ back: I have four great grandmothers and four great grandfathers or I could say that I have the genetic material from 8 different families, which, in my case, makes me equal parts, Barber, Cooper, Dawson, Dugger, McCoy, Phillips, Scott and Walker. So, two generations back, I’m 1/8th Dugger, but significantly, only 1/8th Dawson! In other words, I’m just as much Dugger as I am Dawson.

In our society we take our father’s name, and drop our mother’s, but this is just a historical tradition and has nothing to do with our genetic heritage. It is interesting to note that my grandmother, Clara Dugger, had 174 direct descendants, not one of which was named Dugger, but all 174 were and are in fact, Duggers.

PREFACE

About a hundred years after Columbus blundered into the New World, a group of three ships carrying one hundred Englishmen sailed into Chesapeake Bay and up a broad river that branched off the bay. They named the river the James after their King. On a low peninsular about 35 miles from the river’s mouth they anchored and made camp. They named their camp for their King also: Jamestown. The year was 1607; it would be 13 years before their strangely more famous fellow settlers, the Pilgrims, would land at Plymouth, Massachusetts. Over the next 13 years, despite Indian troubles, rebellions and numerous other problems and hardships the camp became a fort and then a town and eventually the first permanent English settlement in North America.

When the colonists of Virginia learned to grow tobacco from the Indians, the Jamestown colony’s future was assured for tobacco turned out to be very profitable and when word of the fortunes being made in Virginia reached England, real farmers and craftsmen started to come instead of the inept fortune seekers that dominated the first lot. But, it was still difficult to entice people to Virginia for the ocean voyage was dangerous and the land was unforgiving.

In the 1640’s the religious turmoil that had smoldered in England for a hundred years flared into a civil war. The parliament and puritan forces won the war and defeated the King and the established church. Many prominent men who had backed the King decided to move to the New World rather than suffer persecution and recriminations for their backing the losing side. Virginia in particular received many of these cavaliers.

Virginia had an established system of rewarding all immigrants with gifts of land. It was called the head-right system, and awarded anyone who paid his own way to Virginia with fifty acres of land and fifty acres for each person he brought with him. Any wealthy Englishmen, uncomfortable with the Lord Protector Cromwell’s, rule in England, talked their tenant farmers and servants into accompanying them to Virginia and thereby received fifty acres for each man woman and child they brought. Ship captains saw that they could make a great deal of money transporting people so they emptied the jails and sometimes hired agents to simply kidnap people. (Children were sometimes snatched off the streets and transported to Virginia, never to be heard from by their families again.) The ship captains could collect fifty acres for each person transported and quickly sell the land. America in the 17th century was always hungry for labor, so there was a market, even for children. The labor of children and adults was sold and a contract called an indenture was written for a period of three or more years to pay their passage.

The wealthy elite who were uncomfortable with the outcome of the English Civil War took advantage of the land grant system and were able to form great estates. There was a flood of new immigrants in Virginia between 1640 and 1680. Families with names like Washington, Jefferson, Lee and Byrd founded their estates during the period. The transplanted gentry attempted to establish a feudal system in America, but the transplanted servants, tenant farmers, and freed indentured servants quickly saw that in this new country they did not need to be subservient, for there was plenty of land and they could become independent farmers.

During the period of turmoil after the English Revolution, the first Dugger came to America. He probably came from England and probably from the area around London, but we have found no proof for this, just circumstantial evidence.

I have records that prove the first Dugger in this story, Daniel, was in Virginia before 1695. He lived near Jamestown in eastern Virginia, but Daniel was probably not the first immigrant from Europe in the Dugger line. He was more likely the child or grandchild of the immigrant.

The early records are scarce and confusing. This is not surprising since there were Indian wars, a civil war in England and a rebellion in Virginia between the first settlement in 1607 and the first solid evidence of a Dugger in 1695. There are a few records however. A John Dugard was listed among the headrights issued in 1674 and an Abraham Duggard was among the headrights in 1689. There was also mention of a head-right for a Richard Duggard. So, before 1700 there were at least three men in Virginia who are good candidates for being the first Dugger in America. It is a good guess that Daniel was the son of John, (because of the naming pattern) and there is a good chance that John, Richard and Abraham, were related, but exactly how is not clear. No solid connection has been made yet, between these Duggers and Daniel Dugger, who I can prove was my ancestor. Daniel and all the Duggers that followed left a good paper trail and it is for that reason that this story starts in 1725 with Daniel Dugger.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My wife, Mary Lou Faneuf Dawson, helped me at every step in the research, preparation and writing of this book. She has been my coach, mentor, critic and editor. Her encouragement was often all that kept me going. Her support was greatly appreciated, but the most important thing she did was help me perpetuate the Dugger line.

My daughter, Mary Dawson Bailey, and my friends Fran Whittier, Elma Gay, Barbara Smith, Cheryl Stevens and Barbara Tull were of great help and offered valuable suggestions and comments.

Ralph Dugger of Dallas, Texas shared his research of the Dugger family with me. Many of the documents and records that are cited in this book are the product of Ralph’s research.

I would also like to acknowledge Marty Grant of Kinston, North Carolina. His excellent Internet web site at: http://www.martygrant.com is loaded with information on the Dugger family and I have gone there often.

CHRONOLOGY

1607 First English Colony Established in North America at Jamestown, Virginia

1620 English Settlement at Plymouth, Massachusetts 1640 English Civil War starts

1640-1680 Large migration to America, due to disruptions of English Civil War.

1675 First known Dugger migrates to America

1695 Approximate date of the birth of Daniel Dugger

1715 Approximate date Daniel Dugger married Mary Scarborough

1720 John Dugger SR. born

1740 John Dugger Sr. married Priscilla Bennett

1742 John Dugger Sr. buys land in Brunswick County, Virginia

1743 John Dugger Jr. born 1763 French and Indian War

1766 Approximate date John Dugger Jr. married Frances Sadler 1771 James Dugger born

1775 American Revolution starts with battles at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts

1776 Declaration of Independence

1781 Battle of Yorktown, last major battle of American Revolution 1783 Treaty of Paris: England recognizes American Independence 1791 James Dugger married Nancy Edwards

1812 War with England

1813 John S. Dugger born

1820 Economy collapses: Panic of 1820

1820 James and Nancy Dugger move to Giles County, Tennessee 1840 John S. Dugger marries Adaline Wilson

1848 John Fletcher Dugger born

1853 John S. Dugger moved to Independence County, Arkansas 1861 American Civil War starts

1865 Civil War ends

1866 John Fletcher Dugger married Eliza Cash 1868 William Thomas Dugger born

1883 John S. Dugger dies 1887 Eliza Cash Dugger dies

1892 William Thomas Dugger married Hannah Scott

1895 Clara B. Dugger born

1905 Hannah Scott Dugger dies.

1909 William Thomas Dugger dies.

1914 Clara Dugger married Grover McCoy

1917 America enters World War I

1917 Mildred McCoy born

1924 Clara Dugger McCoy dies

1933 Mildred McCoy married Ruben Dawson

1939 Lynn Edward Dawson born

1960 Lynn Dawson married Mary Lou Faneuf

INTRODUCTION

The pain she felt was obvious on her face, as Mildred told her story. Her son Lynn was prodding her for details of her mother’s death and she didn’t want to remember. More than seventy years had past, but that day so long ago still had power. She had agreed to tell him about his grandmother, for she wanted him to know. Despite the pain, she forced herself to keep going.

As I was saying, it was April and Daddy needed to do his plowing. He gave Mama and my sister, Willie, a spoonful of some patent medicine he had bought, he was always buying some awful tasting medicine from the rolling stores that came by. He said to me, (I was only seven, but I was the oldest child that wasn’t sick): ‘I want you to stay in the house and watch your Mama and sister. If you leave the yard, I will give you a whippin.’

He had showed me how to draw a cool drink from the front yard pump, into a Coke bottle, which was the only way that Mama could drink. A little while after he left, Mama asked for a drink, her voice was barely a whisper. I ran to the pump and pumped it a long time, like Daddy had said, you know to make sure it was cool. I could see Daddy off in the distance walking behind his mule, plowing. It was cold and I only had a light dress on so I hurried back.

She paused near tears and gazed past her son who was sitting with his pen poised over the notepad. Lynn glanced over at his wife, Mary Lou, and saw that her eyes were filling with tears. Mary Lou and Lynn could somehow feel Mildred’s pain and sat in silence, as Mildred struggled to go on, finally in a quiet cracking voice she said, "One look and I knew, knew she was dead. I ran out of the house and to the edge of the yard and hollered, ‘Daddy’, as loud as I could. He was a long way off and I was just a little girl, I don’t know how he heard me, but he did. He dropped his reins and ran for the house.

That’s about all I remember, about Mama.

But where did she come from? What were her parents names? Lynn had many questions, for he wanted to know all about the Dugger family, but Mildred said, I was only seven when she died and I just don’t know much.

Well what kind of name is Dugger: English, Irish, French, German? Lord, I don’t know.

Do you know where the first Dugger settled? I mean where in America? It was probably on the East Coast, don’t you think?

I have no idea.

Lynn held up his hands as if in surrender, I think I will write for records and see what I can find out; I’ll bet it is an interesting story.

Mildred considered this a moment then said, Oh, I don’t think so, we were just plain folk.

BOOK ONE

DANIEL AND MARY

CHAPTER 1

All Dan saw from the corner of his eye was the white of the snake’s mouth. Snapping his head to the left, he took in many things in a split second: the ugly fangs protruding from a gaping mouth, a huge black reptilian body that was reared back and just starting toward his leg. He felt a spike of adrenalin and let out an involuntary yelp. He was in mid stride as the snake started forward, and he was moving fast. Last night’s rain had left standing puddles in the low spots near the creek and Dan was crossing one of those spots intending to remove a deadfall. When his boot sank in the mud he hopped and skipped with giant strides through the damp weedy mire. He was moving so fast when the snake struck that it missed him. The thick body slapped into the wet ground only an inch behind his foot, before it slithered into the dark water and disappeared in the weeds of the nearby creek. Daniel was too frightened to feel much for a second, but when the fear hit, he had to stop and catch his breath, for panic seemed to spread over him and he was finding it hard to breathe.

A swaying twig nearby made him jump and nervously look about. Get a hold of yourself, Daniel, murmured. He bent over, placed his hands on his knees, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

What is it; what happened? his wife Mary said with alarm.

A snake! was all Dan could manage in reply.

Where? Mary was quickly looking around her own feet, and at the same time holding up her hand in a motion for the children to stop, but there was no need for they had all frozen in place and were looking about their own feet.

He went in the water, Dan said, pointing toward the creek next to the trail.

Richard, Dan and Mary’s oldest boy, said with a big grin, You sure did jump. He must’ a really scared you.

He sure did. I ‘bout jumped out a’ my boots. Daniel started to smile and shake his head. Laughing at his fear, helped release his nervous energy and he was soon over his panic attack.

Daniel Dugger had been born in this wilderness and was usually as comfortable in the woods as in his own cabin, but he had an unreasonable fear of snakes. It had been more than a century since the first English settlers had come to these lowlands of eastern Virginia. The Europeans had learned all about the dangerous animals of America from the Natives and through hard experience. What they had learned about the snakes had scared them and although there were many more harmless beneficial snakes than the deadly kind, the people killed them all with equal vigor.

Dan knew the encounter with the snake was his fault for he had broken the rules: look where you are stepping, particularly close to water and move slowly so the snakes have time to get out of your way. Dan’s shorthand way of saying the rule was: Move slow in snake country. He was full of folk wisdom about the Virginia woods, for he knew it well, even if he didn’t always follow his own rules. In fact he felt more at home in the woods than in town.

Daniel said loud enough for all to here, Nothing to worry about, he’s gone. Let’s keep moving. We have a long ways to go today.

The Dugger family was trudging through the wild country of southeastern Virginia on the way to their new home. It was the year 1726 and Dan and Mary were in search of a better future. Daniel had secured the title to 125 acres in Surry County only a few months before. As Dan walked through the forest, the snake incident fading from memory, he thought of all